Fireworks

Chapter 1

"Haha, Chica! I beat you again!"

"No, you didn't! It was a tie!"

"Come on, Chica. We both know I was going to win in the first place."

"Bonnie..."

The
withered animatronic laughed before passing a wire over to his friend
across from him. The chicken smiled in triumph as she added it to the
pile beside her; looking back at the tic-tac-toe game they had drawn on
the storage wall.

Freddy blinked as he glanced at the two;
realizing how noisy they were getting. Foxy was currently napping in the
corner like usual. Unlike the bear, the noise didn't seem to bother him
at all.

"Alright, so that's...6 for me and 2 for you," Chica said as she counted the wires. Bonnie blinked his red eyes.

"I'm pretty sure you only have 5, Chica."

"I count six here," The chicken said as he recounted. Bonnie tilted his head.

"Let me see."

The
animatronic nodded before passing her wires over to him; only to have
the bunny snatch it from her hand and add it to the pile.

"B-Bonnie!" Chica exclaimed; leaning over so she could get them back. "That isn't fair!"

The
two laughed as the both wrestled for the wires. Freddy narrowed his
eyes as he exclaimed, "Guys, be quiet! Foxy's trying to sleep!"

"Oh, really?" Bonnie asked as he got off of Chica. "He doesn't seem to mind."

Freddy sighed. "Yes, but-"

The
animatronics were suddenly interrupted by the sound of the door
creaking open from across the room. Bonnie and Chica dropped the wires
as they all turned towards it, only to see BB peeking in. Half of the
room was illuminated by the light reflecting out from the restaurant
outside.

Freddy blinked for a few moments before asking, "BB?"

A
childish giggle came in reply before the animatronic stepped into the
room. A balloon was held in his hand, one that had three different
colors with multiple white stars painted over them. Chica eyed it with
interest while the others cringed at the sudden bright colors.

"What's with th' balloon?" Foxy asked; rubbing the sleep out of his eye.

"It's the fourth of July," BB said.

"Fourth of July?" Freddy repeated. "Wha-"

He
was suddenly interrupted by BB taking his broken hand and motioning to
outside the door. The child looked up at the bear before saying, "Come."

Freddy
paused before he looked over at his withered friends. Chica gave him an
excited smile while Bonnie looked back at BB, trying to figure out what
was going on. Foxy merely looked back at him.

The bear hesitated
for a few moments before giving them a nod, signaling for his friends
to follow him outside. He let BB led him outside into the restaurant and
out of storage; BB continued to lead the 4 down the hallways until they
reached the Dining room.

The animatronics blinked.

Across
from them, the toys sat in circle. All of their eyes were currently
focused on the Marionette, who was currently sitting on a large box as
he discussed something. BB let go of Freddy's hand and walked over to
them.

"I brought them, Mari!"

The room silenced down as
they all looked over at withered animatronics, who awkwardly stood
across from them. The Marionette smiled as he clasped his hand.

Before
any of them could protest, Chica happily skipped over to the circle and
sat between Toy Bonnie and Toy Freddy. The rest of the withered
animatronics exchanged a glance before sighing and joining in on the
circle as well.

"So, what is this?" Bonnie asked as he sat down. "Are you going to convert us to a cult, or something?"

The
Marionette laughed. "Of course not! I wouldn't expect you to know
what's going on, anyway. I highly doubt you kept track of the date since
Christmas, have you?"

The animatronics blinked, realizing that
they could have done that. The Puppet merely adjusted his position on
the box before clasping his hands together.

"Today is July 4th. Around the country we are in, it is known as Independence Day."

"Country?" Foxy asked. "The 'ell are ye' blabbin' 'bout?"

"Our
home is in another home, Foxy," The Puppet smiled. "Our restaurant is
currently located in the state of Michigan. Yours was in a different
one, but not of another country."

"It's called sarcasm, Bonnie," The Marionette commented as he took the top off the box. "Humans tend to use it a lot."

BB
let out a snicker, only to have Toy Bonnie glare at him. The Marionette
rummaged through the box for a bit before getting something out. Once
he turned around, everyone eyed what was in his hand: a miniature
version of the flag made out of fabric that was glued on a stick.

"Each
country has a flag. Ours looks like this. Many Americans buy these
today so they can reflect on the flag that represents their
independence."

"Ooh," Withered Chica commented as she scooted closer to the Marionette. "Can I hold it?"

"Sure, Chica," He smiled as he gave it to her. "I've plenty for all of us."

"I want one! I want one!" BB exclaimed. Foxy, who happened to be sitting right next to him, gave the kid an aggravated look.

The
circle ended up passing flags around until everyone had at least one to
hold. Of course, BB and Chica asked for two; which were clutched in
both of their hands. Foxy was left to hold BB's balloon as the child
continued to run around the room; watching it flap from the wind.

"Of
course I do," The Marionette said before grabbing something else. What
he had clutched in his hand was of a box labeled "Sparklers".

"The 'eck are those?" Foxy asked; tilting his head as he read the label. The Marionette smiled.

"Americans
love using these. With a small amount of fire, they sparkle up until
the stick is gone. It's pretty simple, but beautiful, too."

"Sounds neat," Toy Freddy commented. "Can I have one?"

"We aren't going to use these indoors," The Puppet said as he put them aside. "It's much safer to use them outdoors."

"Then why th' 'ell did ye' get 'em out!?" Foxy twitched.

"Calm down. You asked what else I have, and I showed it to you. As for right now, I'm going to explain how you use these."

With that, he then grabbed a sparkler out of the box and picked up some matches. Freddy's eyes widened.

"Where in Fazbear's name did you get those!?"

"None
of your concern," The Marionette replied as he lit one. "Anyway, you
simply add some fire to the top, and bam! It sparkles."

Once he
lit the top using a match, sparks flew from the end of the stick. All
the animatronics leaned forward; watching it in amazement. The Puppet
waved it to the side, only to see their eyes following it.

"What do you do with it?" Toy Bonnie asked as he scooted forward. The Marionette tilted his head to the side.

"You
wave it around, make circles in the air with it...There isn't much to
do beside that. Of course, you keep it away from yourself and others for
the sake of safety."

He waved it in a few circles.

"-But it's fascinating to watch, huh?"

All
of the animatronics nodded their heads; each of them in a trance of
watching the sparkler. BB continued to run in the background with his
hands full of flags. The Puppet ignored this as he handed the sparkler
over to Toy Freddy to hold.

"Say, Chica, would you mind going into Kid's Cove and checking up on Mangle?"

Toy Chica glanced at her withered counterpart. She turned over to the puppet before asking, "Which one?"

"Both of you," He replied. "Mangle told me that she had a plan for you girls tonight."

Both
of the Chicas exchanged excited looks before getting up and heading
over to Kid's Cove. Toy Freddy continued to make shapes with the
sparkler as the rest of them watched. The Puppet then took it back,
causing the animatronic to groan in disappointment.

"Don't worry.
I'll pass this around," He said as he waved it in the air, laying his
head down on the box behind him. "Let me have my fun with it."

"While
yer' doin' that, I'd like to ask ye' where that balloon freak got
this," Foxy said as he held the balloon up; getting the others to look
at it as well. "I've never seen th' lad carry any o' these before."

"Balloons
are made for made for many occasions," The Puppet replied as he glanced
at him. "The fourth of July just happens to be one of them."

"Are there any more balloons?" Toy Bonnie asked. The Puppet nodded before sitting up and passing the sparkler over to Freddy.

"Yes.
I picked some up from the store just in case anyone else wanted it. I
also knew BB would eventually want to go back to carrying balloons."

"Wait, what 'store'?" Freddy asked as he glanced up from the sparkler. "We don't have a store here besides the Prize Corner."

The puppet only smiled. The room remained silent for a few moment as Freddy's eyes widened in realization.

"Y-You didn't-"

"Ah, give him a break," Toy Bonnie snapped. "He got all of this for us. Be grateful."

"But we can't-"

"Freddy,"
Foxy gave him a look. The bear sighed as he went back to playing with
the sparkler. He made a few eights as well as making a smiley face. The
Puppet clapped.

"Good job, Freddy! That was a very nice smiley."

Freddy
glanced over at him, but didn't say anything as he want back to it. One
he was done, he then passed it over to Toy Bonnie; who immediately went
to waving it in the air. This continued until the rest of the circle
got a chance to play with it, and, by then, it was already burnt out.

"Aw," BB whined as he let go of the flags. "I didn't get to play with it!"

"Ye'
were too busy playin' with them flags," Foxy said as he tossed the
stick aside. "Should have gotten yer' chance while ye' still had it."

"Besides," The Puppet said as he gave the fox a glare. "I have many more we can use once we watch the fireworks."

"Speaking of fireworks," Toy Freddy said as he looked at him. "Shouldn't they be starting about now?"

The
Puppet glanced at a nearby clock and nodded. "Why, yes. It is. Would
one of you mind heading over to Kid's Cove and getting the girls for
me?"

"I'll go do it," Freddy said as he lifted himself up from
the floor and made his way to Kid's Cove. The puppet grabbed the pack of
sparklers before making his way to the stage the toys performed on. He
grabbed the side of the sign held above the stage and started to climb
it.

"Where are ye' goin'?" Foxy asked as he watched the Puppet reach the ceiling. The Marionette smiled.

"I've a passageway through the vents that lead to the roof. We're going to be crawling through there."

"Of
course it is," The pirate rolled his eyes. The Marionette ignored their
voices as he made an opening in the ceiling; moving a tile aside as he
crawled into the vent. Once made sure the passage was clear, he then
poked his head down below.

The
rest of them looked, only to see Freddy leading the three females
towards the stage. Toy Chica had red, white, and blue paint around her
chest that represented the flag. Chica had a mini version of it on her
face as Mangle's toes were painted with the colors.

"Looks like they had fun," The Puppet commented. Foxy only shook his head as they all arrived at the stage.

"Alright,
I am going to lift each of you up individually. Follow the vents until
you reach an end where there is an opening above you. Go through that
and wait for me on the roof."

Everyone nodded. The Marionette
then started by picking BB up and lifting into the vents. He continued
with the rest of the animatronics until they were all in. Once they
were, the Puppet then followed behind them onto the roof.

--

"Freddy! Look at all the stars!"

"This is really beautiful..."

"Look! I see people!"

"The hell is a star?"

The
animatronics continued to comment on everything they saw as they all
spread out on the roof. Chica was observing the restaurants down on the
street below while everyone else stared at the night sky.

"Mari! Mari!" BB whined as he started jumping on the roof. "I let go of my balloon!"

"I'll give you another one, BB. Sit down."

The
animatronic complied as he sat back down; watching the balloon hover
away in the sky with a sad expression. The Puppet sighed before giving
Toy Bonnie a balloon to pass down to him.

"When are they going to start?" Toy Chica asked as she look at the Puppet; situating herself in her seat. He smiled.

"You'll see, Chica."

"Wow,
everyone else is sitting and waiting for them, too," Toy Bonnie said as
he looked down at the people below. Chica glanced over to the hills,
only to see several families sitting down as they waited for the show to
start. She looked over at her friend that sat beside her.

"Freddy?"

"Yeah?" He asked as he turned to her.

"Are we...a family?"

"Family?" He repeated.

"Yeah."

The bear looked up at the stars in thought. After a few moments, he nodded. "Well, yes. Technically, we are."

"Wait, we're family?" Toy Bonnie asked as he looked at the Marionette. The Puppet nodded.

"Of course. And, much like the other families here, we're together. Families always spend time with each other on the holidays."

"Is
that why you invited us on Christmas?" Chica asked as she looked at
him; her purple eyes sparkling in excitement. The Puppet nodded.

"Exactly right, Chica."

The
withered bots exchanged smiles. The toys passed over a few sparklers to
them as well as a couple of flags. Once everyone had a material to hold
onto, they all watched the sky in anticipation.

And, as the minutes passed, the fireworks began to boom.

Write a Review
Did you enjoy my story? Please let me know what you think by leaving a review! Thanks,
Rainbow

Michelle Tuxford:
I really liked this story. It was darkly humorous, had an original voice and was well written. I liked the slightly desolate air of the character and his surroundings. It was strange to read a long-ish prologue for a short story, but it seemed to work.

wildweeder:
I found the story "The Last Starry Night" to be exciting and entertaining (and a little bit scary in parts). I loved the way the young people explained things to each other.The growth and development of the young Warriors that Johnny adopted was fun. Listening to Grandma talk to them in "wisdom s...